A city’s renewal upends several human and animal lives—a tale from Chinese author Jiang Zijian
I detest the washing machine on the balcony. With each rotation, it would always make the sound of someone wiping their hand on a balloon, which would in turn make my head feel like it was going to explode. For that reason, I kept my washing to a minimum—when I was completely out of T-shirts to wear, I’d do a load.
However, that afternoon as it was running, it made a kind of raspy rhythmic “hoo-hoo” sound. My girlfriend kicked it, but soon, it was back to the usual squeaking.
When the cycle finished, my girlfriend opened the lid, only to find a bunch of clothing had been stained red. She yelled at me: “I’ve told you so many times not to put red clothes with other colors in the wash!” She started pulling items out of the washer and throwing them on the floor.
The Pigeon and the Bum | Fiction is a story from our issue, “Vital Signs.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.
Jiang Zijian is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.
